MOUNDSVILLE – An Ohio woman says she was a victim of sexual harassment and retaliation at Warren Distribution in Glen Dale.
Gretta G. Kinzy filed her complaint in Marshall Circuit Court against Warren Distribution Inc., doing business as WD Lubricants. Lonnie Hill and Joshua Lude also are named as defendants.
According to her complaint, Kinzy worked at Warren Distribution as a machine operator from December 2017 to October 2019.
On July 15, 2019, Kinzy says she reported to Lude that she felt Hill press his genitals up against her backside when she was bent over to clock in at a breakroom computer.
Three days later when she was scheduled to work with Hill again, she and a co-worker again talked to Lude about it. That same day during a lunch break, Kinzy says she offered Hill a slice of pizza.
“I will take a piece of anything you have to offer,” Hill allegedly told her. She said she felt embarrassed and humiliated by the comment and again reported it to Lude as well as Production Manager Nathan Fletcher.
The following week, Kinzy met with Lude, Fletcher and Human Resources representative Eric Violet. They told her the allegations against Hill could not be corroborated.
Three days later, Kinzy says she was told to change her shirt, which was one purchased through the company. She told Violet she felt she was being singled out and mistreated.
“Plaintiff believed Warren Distribution and defendant Lude placed a target on her back after she reported the incidents with defendant Hill,” the complaint states.
Three days after that, Kinzy says Fletcher sent an email about her performance issues to others at Warren Distribution.
She also said she continued to have to work with Hill despite requests otherwise. On one such instance, Kinzy says she left the work area to report her discomfort by Hill’s presence. That resulted in a written disciplinary action against her.
“In light of the retaliation and hostile work environment that plaintiff experienced, she was forced to constructively discharge herself from employment with Warren Distribution,” the complaint states.
Kinzy accuses Warren Distribution and Hill of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. She accuses Warren Distribution and Lude of reprisal, harassment, degradation and embarrassment. She accuses all of the defendants of constructive discharge.
She says she has suffered loss of dignity, embarrassment, humiliation, aggravation and emotional distress. She seeks compensatory, general and punitive damages as well as pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney fees and court costs.
Kinzy is being represented by Todd S. Bailess, Rodney A. Smith and Jodi R. Durham of Bailess Smith in Charleston. The defendants are being represented by W. Scott Evans and Jeffrey A. Foster of Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jeffrey Cramer.
Marshall Circuit Court case number 20-C-88